First Day of My Life
by Hayley128
Summary: Set two years after Chosen. Faith decided to return to prison after the big battle but thanks to new lawyers Angel provided, her sentence is reduced to two years. Once she's out, where will she go?
1. Chapter 1

Title: First Day of My Life

Rating: R

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine and I make no money from this.

Summary: Set two years after Chosen. Faith decided to return to prison after the big battle but thanks to new lawyers Angel provided, her sentence is reduced to two years. Once she's out, where will she go?

* * *

Prologue

Sunlight slowly began to creep into the small cell on an ordinary Thursday morning. Normally, the small change in the area, the slow appearance of light, would be enough to wake up the only occupant there. Not today though. No one had been asleep to be woken up in the cell that morning.

Faith hadn't even attempted to lie down after lights out the previous night. Instead, she had only sat on the bed with her back pressed against the cool wall and listened to all the sounds the prison had to offer. All of them were familiar and oddly comforting since the building, her cell, had been her home for the last two years.

While prison was far from a place that anyone should find comforting, Faith had had to make the best of the situation. She knew it had been necessary to keep her sanity in the place that should have been her home for most or even the rest of her life. There was some comfort to be found in the routine of what went on in the prison and Faith accepted it easily.

For the first time during the entire last two years there was no one else in the cell with Faith. The guards had turned their heads and had let her normal cellmate be elsewhere for the night, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She wasn't sure where the other woman was and in the end, she really didn't care. Faith had tried her hardest to keep her head down and keep out of any prison drama that many of the women seemed to feed on.

She looked at the walls, noticing how bare they were for the first time. She knew others tried to decorate their surroundings in order to make prison life more bearable but to her that would've made it worse. Faith didn't want to be reminded of what she was missing on the outside. No reminders needed to grace her walls.

After Sunnydale had fallen and after she had proved to everyone that she could be counted on to be one of the good guys, Faith had a choice. She was a fugitive and even though she was given an out by both Willow and Buffy, there was a part of her that knew taking that out would be the wrong choice. The crimes she'd committed hadn't been paid for and she wanted to do the right thing. That's what she thought she was doing by turning herself in.

Of course, she hadn't counted on one thing and that was Angel. When she had said her goodbyes to everyone as they left to patch up the injured and decide where to go next, she didn't expect they would give what she was doing a second thought. Faith thought all of them were too busy to even contemplate what she was doing in going back to prison.

It only took a week to figure out her assumption was wrong. She received a visit from Gunn and one other man and it didn't take long to see they were trying to get her out of prison the legal way. Faith had no idea what happened but Gunn turned out to be an excellent lawyer and it was all she could do to stop her new legal team from getting all the charges against her dropped. It didn't feel right.

Gunn said she was being foolish by not letting them do their job but Faith did let them get some of the charges dropped, most importantly the murder charges. Her confession was thrown out and without it there wasn't much else to make the charges stick. Evidence had a habit of getting lost in Sunnydale and due to the high mortality rate, witnesses disappear. Lacking both of those things, her 25 to life sentence faded away.

What she was left with was the charges from LA and Gunn had that reduced to three and a half years, out in two with good behavior. That included escaping from prison, too, something Faith figured would have been added on to the deal. It should have been a dream come true.

All it did for Faith was that it made her nervous. In prison she had to deal with her demons but that was all. The other prisoners knew not to mess with her and she stuck to herself. Most of her days were spent sticking to the routine, working out and reading. Over the last two years she'd found she enjoyed reading when it didn't involve research.

She knew outside of the prison everything was unknown and she didn't know what she would do when she was out. It's not like she kept up on current events or what else was going on in the world. She didn't watch TV. The thought in the back of her mind would always be if the story was hiding something supernatural and that was something she wanted to stay away from.

When she turned herself back in two years ago she'd asked all of gang not to visit her and not to write. Faith didn't even want a phone call on holidays. She didn't want to know about how many vampires and demons were in Cleveland or anywhere else in the world. She didn't want to know about the new slayers and she especially didn't want to know if there was a new big bad she was missing out on.

All of that would just make her feel guilty that she had chosen her own redemption instead of trying to be one of the gang and save the world. Faith didn't want the extra guilt. She had enough of it already because of all the things she'd done.

Some shouting rang out from another part of the prison and Faith figured the first risers were just starting to wake up. There were a couple of cells that held prisoners who didn't like each other very much and started mornings trading punches. The guards would eventually get involved but not until they tired themselves out a little.

Of course, there were always the cellmates that really liked each other and she thought she'd probably hear that in the next half hour or so. Her own cellmate had tried to initiate something when they'd been paired together but Faith shut that down quickly. She didn't want that kind of complication.

Faith looked around her cell again. It surprised her that she was going to miss the four walls that surrounded her. They had given her a sort of peace that she was thankful for and it was one of the reasons she had chosen to go back. It would have been hard to concentrate on her thoughts on the outside.

Her eyes once again moved toward the light and thought of where she would be at the end of the day. It scared her that she didn't know.

* * *

The morning had been a blur and for Faith that might have been a good thing. It meant she didn't think.

She knew that most people would laugh at the notion that she was a thinker but most people didn't know her, especially not in the last two years. Faith didn't think there was really anyone who knew her before she went to prison either but that was partially her fault. She had kept her guard up and didn't let anyone in, even when she wanted to.

That had happened with Buffy, both when they first met and when Faith had broken out of prison to help with the First. She had wanted to let Buffy in and she knew there were a couple of times the other slayer wanted the same. Now that seemed to be a lost cause.

"Ready to get out of here, Lehane?"

Faith looked up at the guard as she stood up in her cell. "Sure, Eddie."

"You know, most people are thrilled to get the hell out of here," he said as they walked out of the cell and down the block. Prisoners began to shout but they ignored them. "Especially when they've stayed out of trouble like you have."

"I'm thrilled," Faith said dryly.

He laughed. "Most guards don't pay attention but I do. I know some big legal team fought to get your sentence reduced. I figured we'd be together until I retired."

Faith couldn't help but laugh at the comment. "Me, too, Eddie. Me, too."

They walk in silence for a minute, Faith looking around at the cells and corridors. She had to admit she was happy to be getting out even if the thought of being free made her anxious and a little scared. When she really looked at the place, she had to admit it was depressing.

When they got to the doors Eddie placed his hand on Faith's shoulder, causing her to look at him. "Take care of yourself, Faith. Don't let me see you back in here."

"Won't happen," she said. "I wanna get as far away from all this as possible."

He gave her one last smile as the doors opened and Faith walked through alone. The people on the other side gave her back the possessions she came in with and then she changed into some actual clothes. That was one thing that felt incredible: no more prison uniform.

After signing some papers she was hastily given a bus schedule and left to her own thoughts once again. Faith looked down at it and thought about where she wanted to go. She definitely wanted to get out of California but outside of that she wasn't sure. She didn't even know if she wanted to anyone from the gang or not.

In the end she just decided to go as far as she could with the few hundred dollars Angel had left. After that she just wanted a clean hotel room with clean sheets and a hot shower. And maybe a nice, hot meal, too.

She walked outside and squinted into the sun. Faith took a deep breath and let it out slowly, savoring the fact that she was outside and would never have to go back in. The thought put a smile on her face and the apprehension of getting released was starting to fade away.

When she walked to the road there was a car waiting there and she wondered if there was someone else getting released that day. Maybe someone who actually had someone who cared on the outside. Then a person exited the driver's side of the vehicle and Faith frowned as she recognized who was now walking toward her.

"Andy?" she said as she walked toward the car. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Good to see you, Faith," he said as he nervously smoothed out the gray suit he wore.

"How the hell did you know I was getting out today?" she asked and was surprised that she was angry he had shown up. To her, it meant that someone was keeping tabs on her in prison and that wasn't what she wanted.

"Did you think we weren't going to be waiting for you when you got out?" he said but it looked like all his confidence was fake. "Buffy sent me to get you."

Faith sighed. She had hoped that if she chose to meet up with the rest of them it would be on her own time but it didn't look like that was going to happen. "What if I turn you down?"

Andrew pulled out a piece of paper and started to read. "Faith, don't be an idiot. I know you want to do your own thing but prison should've put some sense into that head of yours. We need you to join the team."

When he looked up Faith shook her head. "She really has a way with words, doesn't she?" She sighed again and looked around. There were one else around and she knew she would be waiting awhile for a bus. That only left her one option since she really didn't have anywhere else to go. "Where are we headed?"

"Cleveland."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I hope there are some people who remember the start of this one. :)

Chapter One

* * *

Faith was grateful for many things in her life.

One of those things was the cheeseburger she'd just taken a bite of and she closed her eyes as if to try to burn the feeling into her memory. Though it probably wasn't the best food she'd ever had, the greasy cheeseburger in front of her proved that the prison food she'd had the last two years was far from good.

She wanted the time to savor every bite of the food, her first meal where she didn't have to pay attention to who was around her and what their intentions were, but she knew that wasn't going to be the case. On the other side of the booth, Andrew picked at the sandwich he'd ordered and mumbled something about the diner they were in being unsanitary.

Faith was not grateful for Andrew though she was thankful that she didn't have to put up with him on a bus or anything. No, apparently the new Council had their own plane.

"Faith, we do have a schedule."

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "Look here, Andy, I agreed to go with you but if you think I'm gonna rush off to Cleveland without even eating a decent meal you're crazy."

"This is not a decent meal."

A waitress scowled in their direction and Faith tried to smile apologetically at her. It didn't quite work and Faith had feeling that if they ordered anything else the cook would get a little creative with how it was prepared. "Just shut up and let me eat."

He sighed and tapped his fingers on the table, much to Faith's annoyance. She figured this was part of her punishment, having to have someone who was utterly annoying accompany her, but she didn't want to dwell on it. All she really wanted at the moment was to enjoy her burger and truly relax for the first time in two years.

The cheeseburger was gone much too soon and Faith ate a couple of fries as she looked at Andrew. He was nervously looking out the window, like he needed to be somewhere else. "What's the problem, Andy?"

"I'm needed back in Cleveland."

"Oh, really?" Faith leaned back against the booth. "If you're so needed why didn't someone else come and get me? Hell, why didn't Buffy since she's the one who sent you?"

"She couldn't exactly leave when she's teaching slayers," Andrew said as if it was obvious. "This is taking too much time. Cooking for all those young slayers is a nightmare and they will destroy my kitchen if I'm away too long."

Faith bit back a smirk so she wouldn't laugh at the fact the guy that started with the group as a prisoner that in the end wouldn't leave while they were fighting the First was now the cook. She wondered if he took to doing that so he could stick around. There didn't seem to be any way that the core group would let him just hang out. She knew firsthand they didn't let people in without a reason.

At least, they didn't for her.

"So . . . how was prison?" Andrew almost whispered the last word, as though he didn't want others in the diner to know Faith was a new ex-con.

"How do you think it was?" Faith asked back as her brow furrowed. "It was what it was. I kept my head down, did my time and now I don't wanna think about it anymore."

"We know you stayed out of trouble."

Faith didn't like how he kept saying "we". She really wanted to know exactly who had decided to keep track of her even though she wanted nothing to do with what was going on outside of the prison. Now wasn't the time to ask that question though. It would need to wait until they got to Cleveland. She wanted to save that question for Buffy.

"I told everyone when I turned myself back in that I wanted to be left alone."

He looked nervous, like he didn't want to make Faith angry. "No one contacted you but we wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I thought it was implied that no contact went both ways," Faith said.

Andrew only shrugged and started picking at his sandwich again. Faith thought about continuing to question him about why exactly it mattered so much that she went to Cleveland but she knew he was just the messenger. She wanted real answers instead.

Her plate was empty and she was still a little hungry but after the comment from Andrew she knew ordering something else was a bad idea. Instead, she stood up and looked down at Andrew. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

"So we lived in Italy for awhile," Andrew said as they got into a taxi outside the airport after what Faith figured was the longest flight ever.

Faith had wished there would've been time for her to spend a little of Angel's money on some new clothes or even some earplugs to block out her companion but Andrew insisted there wasn't time. Before she even had time to think they were on a plane to Cleveland and the only good thing about the adventure so far was that she was happy not to be on a bus to Cleveland with Andrew. The plane ride was long enough.

Once they were on the plane, Andrew seemed to get over his nervousness and talked her ear off about the goings on of everyone and everything that happened while she was in prison. She wanted to point out that she hadn't asked about any of it but she thought that wouldn't stop him. It would've been pointless to attempt to stop him.

Mostly, Andrew talked about how much of the gang went their separate ways for about a year before coming back together again. From what Faith could figure out Buffy and Dawn had really liked living in Europe, even if it was with Andrew, so she didn't know why they were in Cleveland.

"Why is B in Cleveland?"

Andrew looked at her as if he didn't expect a question. Not that he would since Faith had stayed silent throughout most of his talking. "A few months ago there was some trouble on the hellmouth there, kind of an all hands on deck type of situation. Everyone came together for that."

Faith nodded and stopped herself from asking more about it. There was a part of her that didn't want to get drug into whatever drama was going on in Buffy's world. She kept telling herself that all she was agreeing to do was listen to why Buffy wanted her to come to Cleveland. There was no promise that she'd actually stay.

"We have this big house now," Andrew explained excitedly as the taxi sped along. Faith hoped they were close by now. It felt like they had been traveling for days and not hours. "It's very nice."

"How much longer until we get there?"

Andrew looked at her as if she shouldn't want the time spent with him to end. "About five minutes."

Faith nodded and looked out the window. It seemed like everything felt different now that she was out of prison, like not only was she different but that everything around her was, too. She didn't know how to deal with the feeling and decided it made her a little uncomfortable. Part of her wanted to jump out of the car and get as far away as possible.

She knew which house they were going to before the taxi had even slowed or before Andrew pointed it out for a couple reasons. One, it looked like it was the biggest house in the area and it was further back from the road than the other homes, though there weren't many on the street. They were more on the outskirts of Cleveland and Faith figured Buffy had picked the place because it looked like they had privacy.

The other reason was that Faith began to feel a barely noticeable buzz when the car got within a few blocks. She knew that only meant one of two things: either there were a few vampires in the area or there were slayers nearby. Since the sun was shining she figured she was close to all the slayers that lived here or more accurately, close to Buffy. The connection she had with her was much stronger than with any of the others.

"Here we are," Andrew said as they pulled up to the house. "Nice, right?"

"Sure."

The house looked a little old and like it had once been a dormitory or maybe a children's home. She could see how a setup like that would work for housing a lot of slayers. Plenty of rooms, larger kitchen, some common areas. Faith could picture what it would look like before even walking in.

It was definitely big enough for a decent number of people and Faith wondered how many actually lived there. She couldn't imagine someone like Giles wanting to live with a bunch of slayers or Robin for that matter. Over the last two years she only thought of him a handful of times but now was curious about where he was. Hell, she was curious if all of the gang were actually here. It was something Andrew had yet to elaborate on, choosing to concentrate more on when he hung around Buffy and Dawn in Europe.

She followed Andrew into the house and saw a couple teenage girls pass her as they walked down the stairs and into another room. Faith had no idea who they were but by the looks on their faces they knew exactly who she was. The thought that someone had warned them she was dangerous crossed her mind.

Faith turned to look at Andrew. "Where to?"

"I think Buffy should be in the library."

"The library?" Faith said as she bit back a laugh. "What, is she all about research now?"

"You're not the only one who reads," Andrew commented which only irritated Faith. The extent of which they kept track of her was beginning to feel stalker-like. "And she's probably on the phone with Giles."

They walked toward the back of the house and Faith tried to determine how many rooms there were. The place was big enough so that there could have been maybe ten bedrooms upstairs if she were to guess. The group must have located money somewhere in order to pay for a house like this, especially given the huge living room and media room the passed on the way to the library.

Andrew opened the double doors of the library and the first thing Faith saw was Buffy sitting on a table, talking on a phone. She drummed her fingers on the as she talked, making it look as though she would rather be doing something else.

"Yes, Giles, I know," she said, not noticing she wasn't alone. "No, I don't think I'm rushing things. We can't baby them forever." She turned toward the door and noticed Andrew and Faith standing at the entrance. Her eyes seemed to move over Faith before returning her attention to Giles. "Giles, I have to go." She paused. "Yeah, they're here. We'll talk later."

She hung up and opened her mouth to speak but Andrew started up before she could. "As you see I have brought Faith back and she came willingly."

Faith raised an eyebrow at the comment and it looked like Buffy was fighting an eye roll. "Thanks, you can go . . . do whatever you do. I need to talk to Faith alone."

He left without saying anything else and once the door was closed the two slayers looked at each other. Neither said a word or even moved, only stared as though they were waiting for the other to speak. Faith figured that if Buffy wanted to talk to her so much that she sent Andrew to come get her she could start the conversation.

"Thanks for coming."

Faith raised an eyebrow again. "Didn't know I had much of a choice."

Buffy looked momentarily hurt by the comment but seemed to recover quickly. "Of course, you had a choice." She paused. "I thought you would want to come here once you got out."

The comment took Faith by surprise and she tried to hide it. Not once during the last two years did she think she would be welcome back with the rest of the gang after she turned down the original offer. She had assumed she would be on her own once she got out and she had been okay with that.

"I thought that after I turned you down the first time the offer was no longer good."

Buffy sighed and it looked to Faith like she was struggling to find the right words. When she looked at her, Faith couldn't read her expression. "What were you going to do?"

Faith thought for a moment, the question catching her off guard. For some reason she didn't think Buffy cared and then couldn't remember why she had that impression. She had left the group on good terms, even though she'd turned them down. It seemed like the old thoughts she'd had of the other slayer were still influencing her and she tried to make them stop. The whole purpose of going to prison was to get a fresh start, to fully pay for what she'd done, and she wanted to wipe the slate clean with everything, including what she had originally thought of Buffy.

She shrugged. "Wasn't completely sure, I guess. There was a bus station close to the prison. I was gonna walk there and pick a place to go. Angel gave me a few hundred dollars so I was gonna use that to get some clothes and a place to stay. Didn't think much past that."

"You know he probably wanted you to use that to join him."

"Yeah, I know but he should know better than that, too."

Both of them were silent for a minute and Faith hated the tension in the room. It felt like one of them wanted to yell at the other and she couldn't tell who should be doing the yelling. She hadn't come to fight with Buffy. She just wanted know why she had bothered. Of course, then she remembered why she was angry with the situation.

"You know, I thought I had made it pretty clear I didn't want to be bothered while I was in prison. I didn't want to be kept track of." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Just 'cause I don't know about it doesn't make it okay."

Buffy narrowed her eyes. "It was necessary."

"Why? And who said to do it? You?"

"Yes," Buffy admitted.

Faith shook her head. "You couldn't let me do my own thing. You have to have your own way, just like always."

"Yes, let's make you out to be the big martyr." Buffy shook her head. "How were we going to know you were okay when you didn't even want to talk to any of us?"

"You didn't care the first time."

"Things change."

The phrase disgusted Faith even though deep down she kind of liked that Buffy cared enough to check in on her. Mostly though, she wanted to think that the only reason they wanted to know how she was in prison was so she could do what they wanted once she got out. That was not part of her plan and she turned toward the door when Buffy said something to make her stop.

"Did you know I visited you in prison?"

Faith turned back to her, a look of disbelief on her face. "You think I wouldn't remember if I had visitors? All I saw was Angel once and my lawyer a couple times when I first got there. After my sentence was reduced," she waved her hand in the air, "nothing."

"You know Willow's really powerful now? She can teleport people." Buffy let a small smile show. "There was a small riot at the prison you were in, what, about eight months ago? I was afraid you were hurt and it wasn't like we could call and ask you. So after we figured you'd be asleep I had Willow teleport me into your cell, just for a couple minutes so I knew you were okay."

"You saw me in my cell?" Faith managed to ask though it was hard to form the words.

She remembered that day. It hadn't been so much of a riot as a large fight that broke out in another cellblock. Since Faith didn't exactly gossip with the other inmates all she'd heard was that a couple inmates and a guard were injured. The only thing she knew was that it meant the prison was essentially locked down for the day and she was in her cell all day, which was okay since that was one of the few times she hadn't had a cellmate.

Buffy nodded. "It looked like you'd fallen asleep reading. There was a book in your hand. It was dark so I couldn't see what it was. I did see that you weren't injured so after a few minutes Willow teleported me back."

Faith didn't know what to believe but she had fallen asleep with a book that night. That happened a lot of nights. "All that didn't happen near me."

"That's good." She looked down for a second, like she wasn't sure what to say next. "Were you okay in there?"

"It was prison, Buffy." Faith looked at her as though the answer was obvious. "Wasn't supposed to be easy." She paused. "What else did you keep track of?"

"I know you got your GED," she said. "Didn't think you cared about that."

"Things change."

Neither one of them spoke for a minute and Faith looked out the window. She had to admit it was a nice place but she wasn't sure she belonged there. More importantly, she didn't know if she could keep with her path to redemption by taking the easy way out and staying.

"Why did you want me to come here?"

Buffy looked at her and Faith thought she almost looked a little sad. "I thought you could help with the operation here but if you don't want to . . ."

"B, I don't know what I want to do," Faith said quickly. "I thought I'd be figuring that out on my own."

There was another awkward pause before Buffy sat down at the table she'd just been sitting on. "Sit down, okay?"

Faith grudgingly walked over and sat across the table from her, trying to figure out Buffy had an agenda. Her mind kept going back and forth on whether or not she should trust anything that was said. She was starting to get a headache.

"Look, I'm not gonna try and make you stay or anything," Buffy said. "I'm not exactly a big fan of Cleveland either. You can still help out with the slaying stuff and not stay."

"How?"

"You said you didn't know where you wanted to go," Buffy said calmly though Faith could tell she wanted to say something else. "There are a couple slayers who travel for the Council, which Giles is in charge of now. Kennedy's one of them."

That seemed a little strange to Faith. "What about Willow?"

Buffy seemed to know what she meant by the question. "Off and on. More off recently."

Faith nodded and from the way Buffy was talking to her she figured she was okay with asking questions. "So why are you here, B? From the way Andy tells it you, him and Dawn were living it up in Europe before coming here. And he talked about it a lot."

"Sorry about that," Buffy said as she laughed quietly at the face Faith made as she said it. Faith hoped that meant the tension would ease. It was making her uneasy. "Believe it or not he volunteered to meet you. I had to deal with a situation here but I at least wanted Xander to go. Andrew insisted he was the right person."

She paused before continuing. "Dawn wanted to go to Italy and it seemed like as good a place as any. I wanted to live a normal life for once and we did for a few months. After that whenever there was a problem I helped and then tried to go back to normalcy. Then there was a pesky apocalypse here and it became pretty obvious after that we needed to set something up in Cleveland permanently."

"Sucks," Faith said quietly. She knew unlike her, the only thing Buffy seemed to want after Sunnydale was to have a normal life.

"It is what it is."

There was another silence between them and Faith couldn't think of what to say. She was a little confused by the situation she was in. By now she should have been on a bus going to Phoenix, Dallas, St. Louis or even somewhere on the East Coast if she could afford it. She shouldn't have been in Cleveland hearing about what was going on with Buffy.

And Buffy wasn't supposed to be as nice as she was being.

"You don't have to decide anything right away," Buffy said as she stood, "and if you don't want to do any of it I understand."

"Really?" Faith asked as she stood.

"Well, no, I wouldn't but I'd try." Buffy let out a nervous laugh. "I, uh, had a room set aside for you when we got this place a few months ago. You can stay there until you, uh, decide."

Faith nodded, not knowing what else to say. A part of her wondered what it would be like to stay and work with Buffy. The other slayer was being nice to her now but that could change after awhile and she didn't want to make up for her mistakes by taking orders from Buffy.

"I don't know if staying here is a good idea," Faith said quietly.

"Why not?"

Faith thought back to the two young slayers and how they'd looked at her when she walked in. She knew that those looks would keep coming as long as she stayed at the house and did whatever Buffy had in mind. If she was out on her own, those looks wouldn't come at first glance. No one would know her wrongs straight away.

"It seems I already have a reputation around here and I don't wanna have to be looking over my shoulder at some junior slayer who's waiting to prove herself by taking out the bad slayer."

"That's not what would happen."

"B, you've never been that naïve before," Faith commented.

Buffy sighed. "Can you promise this: just stay the night and make up your mind in the morning? Maybe we can talk about it again?"

Faith wanted to say no, that her mind was already made up, but she was tired and the thought of sleeping a full night in a room that was her own was too tempting. She figured she could eat another good meal, get a decent night's sleep and then pick a place to go.

"Okay," she agreed after a minute's silence. "I'll stay the night."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Two

* * *

Her first night out of prison was okay but the entire time Faith felt uneasy, like she wasn't sure what to say or even what to do. She didn't like the feeling at all and couldn't understand why she was feeling this way. It made her want to run.

Buffy had shown her around the large building and the grounds. The place proved to be bigger than Faith had thought and she couldn't help but be impressed at how together everything was, especially given that Buffy had insinuated everything had been set up in a matter of weeks. There was a level of organization that wasn't present the last time Faith had been with the group but then again, by the time she showed up in Sunnydale everyone was in crisis mode.

It turned out Giles was slowly setting up places all over the world for slayers to be trained since, as Buffy explained, there were vampires and demons all over the world. Now they had the ability to actually stop them no matter where they were. As part of the training process, slayers had to spend time on the Cleveland hellmouth, a minimum of six months.

That explained to Faith why the place was full of slayers and Buffy had said that since the property was large they might even build more housing and bring in a couple more watchers so they could have more slayers at one time. It seemed like she had a plan in place and Faith had to admit the way the group had set things up worked.

There were more rooms upstairs than Faith had thought as well. There were ten dorm-like rooms on the second floor that each held two slayers, most of which were full at all times. Two watchers also lived on the floor to make sure the teenagers at least partially behaved and of course, the rest of the gang was there to keep track of them. Apparently that didn't always work and Buffy had a couple stories that proved the young slayers had a rebellious side.

The third floor was where everyone else lived. The rooms were nicer and larger, most having their own bathrooms, something the younger slayers didn't have. Buffy showed her where she, Willow, Xander and Andrew stayed along with a couple another rooms for guests and when Giles stayed when he was there. One that wasn't a guest room and was next to Buffy's was her own room.

Faith looked it over carefully and she kind of liked it. It wasn't huge by any means but it had more than she expected. It had a bed, dresser, desk and couch along with a couple pieces of furniture, one which held a TV. It was also one of the rooms that had its own bathroom and when Faith looked in she noticed it was already stocked with towels and toiletries.

The way Buffy was acting kept catching Faith off guard but it was in a good way. After realizing that Faith wasn't saying much she kept the conversation going by talking about how they got the house and set everything up. She even talked about the fact that Dawn had moved to England to start her training as a watcher.

It was easy to see the move was recent and that Buffy didn't fully approve of her little sister's choice but Faith decided not to ask about it. There was a risk that she would overstep her bounds and instead whatever questions she actually voiced was directed at how the group had settled in Cleveland.

It turned out earlier in the year they had received word of a threat that a group of vampires got a hold of a device that had the ability to open the hellmouth. Robin Wood had been in Cleveland with three other slayers and they requested help after one of them had been killed. Once Giles researched when Robin had described everyone had rushed to the city. Apparently, once the device, something the vampires called the Rune, was made whole by touching the seal it could keep it open indefinitely without the use of anything else.

Buffy described how the first week brought back some Sunnydale memories since they were all crammed into a house Robin had been renting. That was when she and Giles realized they needed to set up something permanent, more so than having Robin and a couple of slayers staying there. Cleveland was too big of a threat.

That was the point where Faith actually asked about someone, having wondered where Robin was. Buffy broke the news that he had died along with three over slayers in the final battle where they destroyed both the Rune and the vampires trying to use it.

Faith wasn't sure how to take the news of Robin's death and she figured Buffy knew that because she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she talked about finding the property with Giles and how Xander and Willow had agreed to move there to start the training facility. Andrew proved useful when it came to help with furnishing the huge building and with the cooking so he stayed as well.

She finished with how she thought it was partially her fault Willow and Kennedy were on the outs most of the time. Prior to moving to Cleveland, the couple had travelled most of the time, stopping at covens or to help solve a vamp problem. It was something Kennedy liked to do and even without the Council she could afford to do it thanks to her trust fund. She was completely against moving and only grudgingly agreed to use her travel time for strictly slaying reasons. Buffy said that Kennedy had only been back a couple of times since they settled for good and it wasn't a subject she brought up with Willow anymore.

After all that they had dinner with Andrew, Xander and Willow which wasn't terribly uncomfortable but Faith knew that was because they didn't eat with the rest of the slayers. She still thought about the look she got when she arrived and really wanted to know what was said about her.

It seemed like both Xander and Willow knew Faith didn't want to talk about prison because they only told her about what they had done over the last two years. Xander talked about working in England with Giles and helping to develop some high tech gear for when the slayers patrolled. Willow stuck with where she'd traveled and didn't mention Kennedy much at all.

Faith figured it must have been a sore subject.

In the end, Faith could tell all her body wanted was to sleep so she declined to go on patrol. Buffy had looked genuinely disappointed but Faith feared that if she went and liked it, liked patrolling in Cleveland, she might not leave and that was still the plan. She still wanted to go out on her own.

That was why after what was probably the most relaxing sleep she had ever had, Faith woke up early and packed a few things in a bag. There were clothes in the closet that were her size and she had to think that was Buffy's doing. There were also some weapons and Faith packed a couple of those in the bag she'd found, too. She didn't know where she was going but if she was going to be doing any slaying she knew she needed to be prepared.

Once she had everything together and had taken a long shower, she tried her best to get out of the place as quietly as possible. Of course, she had thought of the fact there were people up at all hours in the building and the stairs she took, the one that was closest to her room, made her travel through the kitchen on her way out.

"Good morning, Faith," Xander said as she walked into the kitchen. He had a cup of coffee in his hand and a newspaper in front of him. "Coffee?"

"Uh, sure," Faith said, not knowing what else to do or say.

He grabbed a mug from one of the cupboards and poured her a cup, smiling as he did. "What's with the bag?"

"I was gonna head out," Faith said before taking a sip. "I only promised to stay the night."

"I get it." Xander paused then looked at Faith again. "You know, I actually don't get it. Why do you want to leave so badly?"

Faith shrugged. "I figure in order to do this right I gotta do it on my own."

"Do what right? You served your time, Faith, and we both know you didn't have to."

"Yeah, I really didn't, did I?" Faith commented. "If everyone else had their way I wouldn't have done any time at all. By the end I was surprised I was even listened to the way they were trying to get everything dropped. But just because evidence and my confession were thrown out doesn't mean I didn't do everything I was charged with. We both know that."

"Are you talking about Angel's people?"

Faith only nodded.

"Okay," Xander said slowly. "I do understand that part of it as being one of the original 'send Faith to prison' gang."

"There was a gang?" Faith asked, not being about to suppress the chuckle that came with the question.

"But what I don't understand is now that you're out, why don't you want to be here?"

"It's complicated." Faith paused and saw the disbelieving look on Xander's face. "I don't know how to explain it aside from that I think redeeming myself means I have to be on my own."

Xander seemed to think for a moment before saying anything. "What if you're wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You want to change, right?" He waited for Faith to nod before continuing. "You already started that when you helped us in Sunnydale. And honestly, there was one thing that you never did much before that would prove you want to change."

Faith raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Asking for help."

She opened her mouth to respond but instead she heard Buffy behind her. "You're leaving?"

Faith turned and noticed Buffy was dressed in workout clothes. She had shown her the training area the night before so she figured that's where she was headed. "Yeah, B. I said I would stay the night and see everything and I did . . . but I want to start out on my own."

Buffy furrowed her brow and Faith wondered if this would be when the other slayer would show the side Faith remembered all too well: the bossy, "do as I say" side. But that wasn't what happened. "Come with me."

Faith looked to Xander but he only nodded so she relented and followed Buffy through the house until they reached her office. Once inside Buffy shut the door and went around the desk, shuffling through some papers and items until she found a leather pouch.

"There was a part of me that thought you wouldn't stay." She handed the pouch to Faith. "This was supposed to be yours so you could get settled here but it works for you to travel, too."

"What is it?"

"Open it and find out."

Faith opened the pouch and was momentarily speechless. Inside was cash, a driver's license, passport and a credit card. All the documents were in her name and she couldn't think Buffy had gotten them by strictly legal means. There was also a cell phone and a set of keys.

"What is all this, B?"

"You need a fresh start, right?" Buffy asked, the smallest smile appearing on her face. "This will help."

"Are these even legal? I don't exactly remember applying for a passport."

"They're mostly legal." Buffy walked around the desk and leaned against the front of it. "That's your signature, right?"

Faith looked over the documents and had to admit that it definitely looked like she signed for everything. Even the picture looked recent. "Yeah, it is. What I don't understand is how?"

Buffy kept a straight face, like she knew the answer she would give would be one Faith wouldn't like. "You're going to accuse us of being stalkers again but waiting until you were out wasn't good enough. Getting the license and passport take time and I'm not that patient. We used court documents Angel's office had to make them. They are legal in every other sense."

"So this was something for me to start working here?"

Buffy nodded. "But now you can use it to do what you think you need to do. The credit card is a Council one and Giles will get annoyed if I don't tell you not to go overboard. The cell's one of ours, too, so you can keep in contact if you want. It has mine, Will's and Xander's numbers all programmed in. Giles is in there, too. A couple of the keys are for the front door and to your room and for Robin's car . . . I think he'd want you to have it."

Faith looked at the keys sadly. She wished she could have talked to Robin before he died but knew she wouldn't have wanted that talk to be at the prison. There was still no regret in the choice to have zero contact while behind bars.

"You don't have to do this, Buffy," Faith said quietly. "I think I can do just fine on my own. I don't need everyone here trying to do a good deed or clear your conscience or whatever by giving me all this."

"That's what you really think of us? What you think of me?" Buffy shook her head. "It's been two years, Faith. How many times do I have to say that? If I remember correctly, I was one of the ones telling you that you didn't need to go back to prison."

That was true and Faith tried to shake off the old suspicions she always had when it came to Buffy and everyone else. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, reminding herself she wanted to leave all the judgments she'd once made behind. "Thanks for this, B. It'll help."

A smile appeared on Buffy's face. "Not a problem. Are you going to leave right away?"

It sounded like there was still hope in her voice that Faith would stay but that wouldn't happen. Faith still wanted to leave and find her own way. "That's the plan. I want to get on the road and figure out where to go."

Buffy nodded but the smile started to fade. "Do you want a suggestion on where to go? Someplace where there's plenty of vamps for you to get back into slaying?"

"Where?" Faith asked, raising an eyebrow. She wondered if this was an assignment since Buffy had mentioned traveling slayers.

"Memphis," she answered. "Vamps like it for some reason even though there isn't much of a supernatural presence there, not like here anyway."

"Maybe they like Graceland." Faith shifted from one foot to the other. "Is this like an official assignment or something?"

"No, we've had people do sweeps through there before," Buffy said. "There might be someone there now, I really don't know. Things have been busy enough here."

Faith nodded, taking Buffy at her word. "Maybe I can check it out."

She turned to walk out of the office but Buffy spoke up before she could get to the door. "Faith? Do you mind if I call you sometimes? Just to check in and see how you are?"

That was something Faith didn't know if there was a right answer to. Part of her wanted to say no and another part thought maybe this was the second chance they needed. "Yeah, sure. I guess you have my number now."

Buffy's smile was the last thing she saw before walking out of the office and the building to find the car that was now hers.

* * *

Robin's car was actually an older Ford Explorer. Faith appreciated it's black color, ample room for supplies and weapons and that it wasn't something girly but then again she couldn't ask for much with a free vehicle.

She hadn't seen anyone else on her way out and she was thankful for that. There would be nothing but trying to make excuses to Willow, Xander or Andrew at why she couldn't stay and she really didn't want to run into any of the young slayers. Putting up with their looks, stares and any comments wasn't exactly something on her to-do list.

The first thought she had was that she wanted to get some clothes that she could pick out and some supplies for the road but instead decided getting out of Cleveland was the first priority. That was why after stopping at a gas station to top off the gas tank, get some food and a road map she was quickly on her way out of the city.

She decided to go south though she wasn't sure if she would actually do as Buffy suggested and drive to Memphis. One thing that stopped her from going on patrol the previous night, aside from being tired from traveling with Andrew, was that she felt it would have been awkward. Faith was definitely feeling the urge to slay something though. It was a feeling she'd suppressed the two years in prison but there wasn't a need to anymore.

The drive gave her a lot of time to think, something that she'd had plenty to do over the last two years. It was different now though. Now she was able to do some planning and follow through with those plans without have to wait. Even deciding where to eat lunch made her smile.

It was in the early afternoon when she hit the Cincinnati city limits and decided that was enough driving for the day. She still needed to do some shopping for clothes and anything else she might need and there wasn't a need to rush. There wasn't a schedule to stick to and Faith was curious to try out the credit card she was given.

Of course, it worked and Faith decided to take to heart what Buffy said about Giles wanting everyone not to go wild with the cards. She only got clothes she felt she needed and resisted the urge to get leather pants. At least, she resisted for now. She figured she'd be able to justify them soon, after she actually started doing some good and not just saying that's what she was going to do.

After she thought she had enough clothes to at the very least travel so she wouldn't have to wear the same thing every other day, Faith went about finding a decent hotel. Like the clothes, she didn't want to go overboard but she didn't want to stay at some fleabag motel either. She'd stayed in enough of those to last a lifetime.

First though, Faith did what she had wanted to do since she got out of prison: she found a restaurant and had a nice, slow, quiet dinner. It was something she had wanted to do right away but having Andrew pick her up had effectively put a wrench into that plan.

Her first official meal out of prison was a steak, rare and seasoned perfectly, along with a baked potato and some vegetables she had no intention of eating. She sat there for what was probably a long time since she saw the waitress looking at her watch, probably hoping she'd leave so she could fill the table with the hope of getting more tips.

Faith wanted to really relax so she enjoyed every bite and tipped the waitress big for putting up with her. The long day was starting to tire her out so she stopped at the first hotel that didn't look too expensive but expensive enough that she wouldn't have to search for bugs before she settled in for the night.

"Ms. Lehane?"

She looked up at the man behind the counter. "Yes?"

"Will you be staying for just the one night?"

"Yeah," Faith answered, nodding. "Just for the night."

He smiled. "Here's you key card then. You're on the fourth floor and the elevators are to your right."

Faith thanked him and took her bag and some of the clothes she'd bought that day to the room, smiling as she walked in and closed the door. It was simple, she hadn't sprung for a suite or anything, but it had a big and comfortable looking bed, a TV that actually looked like it worked and a nice, clean bathroom. That was all she could really ask for.

She took some time to look over what she bought and make sure it was really to her liking before taking a long, hot shower. Even though she'd had some time to herself the night before, Faith had been too uncomfortable surrounded by Buffy and her friends. She knew Buffy had wanted the place, the new slayer headquarters, to be her new home but it hadn't felt that way. She felt like a visitor instead.

There might be a time when that wouldn't be the case but Faith couldn't imagine when that would be. Maybe once she really got back on her feet and started to get a sense on what she wanted to do she would feel like she belonged. Now wasn't that time though.

After watching TV for a couple hours Faith felt she was relaxed enough to get some sleep but as she reached to turn off the light her eyes looked toward something. She looked at the phone she'd been given.

She looked at it for a minute before picking it up and looking through the features and contacts, something she hadn't done when she'd been given the phone. Sure enough, all the numbers Buffy had said were programmed in were there and Faith found herself thinking about calling her. Before she even realized she wanted to, she pressed the option to call.

The line rang a few times and Faith figured she was either out on patrol or maybe even already asleep. It wasn't yet midnight but it was getting there.

Finally, Buffy answered. "Hello? Faith?"

"Uh, hey," Faith said, suddenly realizing she wasn't sure what to say. "How'd you know it was me?"

"Your number's programmed into my phone," she said quietly. "Are you okay?"

Faith was silent on the question until she realized Buffy was waiting on an answer. "Um, yeah, I'm okay."

"Then why did you call? Are you still in Cleveland?"

"No, I'm not in Cleveland. I'm in Cincinnati," Faith answered. "I, uh, I was thinking. You know, about you asking if you could call me."

"Yeah?"

"I kinda figure that can go both ways."

She could almost see Buffy smiling on the other end. "Yeah, you can call. I just got in from patrolling so this is kinda when I'm winding down." She paused. "Did you go out patrolling tonight? I'm sure you could find some activity in Cincinnati."

"I was a little busy getting some clothes and few supplies. Didn't go to wild with the card either."

Buffy laughed. "I wouldn't care if you did but I bet Giles would."

"I bet."

Neither of them said anything for a few seconds but before Faith started to get that uncomfortable feeling that was getting all too familiar Buffy spoke up. "I like this . . . talking to you like this."

Faith smiled. "Me, too."

"Well, I have to be up in a few hours so I should get some sleep," Buffy said. "Drive safe, Faith."

"Thanks, B."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: sorry for the time between chapters. Thanks to everyone reading/reviewing so far! :)**

Chapter Three

* * *

Faith ended up having another relaxing night and she was thrilled about it.

After the short talk she had with Buffy she'd turned off the lights and the next thing she knew the alarm on the nightstand next to her was going off. As she got out of bed she was relieved she set it. The last thing she wanted was to have to deal with checking out late.

The hotel lobby had some complimentary breakfast items so Faith helped herself to a couple donuts and a cup of coffee before getting her things back in the car and checking out. The hotel staff was nice, wishing her to have a good day, and for the first time since she got out of prison she wondered what they'd say if they knew she was an ex-con.

Not that what they thought mattered though and Faith shook her head clear of the thought as she turned the key to the Explorer, causing it to rumble to life. She gave everything a final check, making sure she had all her money, documents and phone before leaving and once again heading south.

She couldn't help but smile at the fact she had things she had to keep track of now. In prison nothing was really hers even if she bought it. The books, her uniform, everything had belonged to the prison whether directly or indirectly. Even when she had taken classes and the test to get her GED she had to rely on the prison for everything. For awhile she felt she had even let her own identity go while she was there.

Now Faith didn't have to worry about that. For the first time she could remember, even before she was called, she felt that she could actually go wherever she wanted. Hell, Buffy had even arranged for her to have a passport, something that made her think that if she ever worked for the Council officially she might be working in other countries, too. It was something that made working with Buffy and Giles appealing, though not enough to actually do it.

When she stopped at a gas station after less than an hour on the road she got a little more food and drinks for the drive and decided to see if there were any better maps than the one she had. Once thing that didn't sound appealing was getting lost in some backwoods area.

"Whatcha looking for?"

Faith turned from the stand that held a variety of local, state and national maps and looked at the clerk. He was probably in his twenties and had what Faith could only think of as a greasy demeanor, like he'd worked over a fryer too long. She looked at his nametag and saw it was Bobby. "I'm doing some traveling. Probably all over the country."

He reached over her shoulder and pointed to what Faith thought was probably the most expensive set of maps there. "You'll want that one."

"Thanks," Faith said and decided to take him at his word. She flipped through it quickly and noticed it had maps for every state, something she definitely needed.

She walked back over to the counter with it and a few other snacks as the clerk smiled. "Where ya going?"

"Probably gonna head to Memphis first."

He smiled and leaned toward her. "If you're sticking around tonight, I could show ya around. One of my friend's got a party going on. Should be worth checking out."

Faith raised an eyebrow, noticing that half the time he had been asking her chest out. "Gonna have to pass on that, Bobby."

"Your loss," he said before taking the map from her and flipping to a couple different pages. "Here's the route you should take to Memphis."

"That the fastest way?"

"Guaranteed."

There was a part of her that thought he might be trying to mess with her since she turned him down. But when she at the route she saw it was mostly major highways so all she did was thank him, pay for everything and then went on her way.

* * *

The morning went by fast even though she was alone. During the shopping trip the day before she'd picked up a couple CDs listened to them as she drove, occasionally singing along. After that she listened to the radio, often opting for something older than listening to whatever new music fad was on the top 40 stations.

Faith was also very attentive to her surroundings. Since she had no intent of settling down in one area right away, if not for the foreseeable future, she made a point to pay attention to the little towns as she passed. By noon she paying attention to the restaurants were just off an exit.

The stop for lunch was only a brief one. Even though she didn't have a set time to be at any location she wanted to do some slaying that night no matter where she was. Since Buffy had mentioned that Memphis always seemed to have a vamp problem, she wanted to start slaying there. It would be easy than stopping in a small town for the night and having to find the local cemetery in hopes of staking just one.

It wasn't until late in the day that she arrived in Memphis, leaving little time to get a hotel room and eat prior to going out on patrol. It made her almost kick herself for taking more time than she thought she should during the day.

Even though she wanted to keep a good pace during the day, she couldn't resist being able to slow down and actually look at her surroundings while she traveled. Before she had always gone by bus or she'd been hiding out so there wasn't time to look at each town's little quirks. She was sure that most people found doing something like that completely boring but most people hadn't just gotten out of prison either.

She'd stopped a couple times after lunch, probably taking more time than she thought she should have. Faith wanted to make sure she took time to stop for gas and stretch her legs when she needed to and there was also a need stop once to give the Explorer a once over since she was sure no one had since Robin's death.

Her mind always seemed to dwell on Robin's death when a situation seemed to reference it and she didn't care for it much. During her last stop for gas the service station employee that checked everything over with her said whoever had it before her took excellent care of it and she could swear she felt herself starting to tear up. It was something she stopped quickly though. She didn't want to seem vulnerable, especially to a stranger.

That was something she found strange, the emotions she had for someone she barely knew. Sure, they had the one night but even after Faith knew they wouldn't have anything further than that. It didn't change the fact that she was sad he was dead though and didn't change the relief she felt when Buffy told her who was still alive.

Maybe it was a sign she was truly changing.

Thoughts like that had been roaming in her head all day but the itch of wanting something to slay had also been getting stronger as well. She hadn't gone out at all the first two nights and Faith knew she couldn't ignore it for a third given how long she'd been away.

Hell, she didn't want to ignore it. It was what she was meant to do.

Faith drove for an hour and a half or so and found some more rundown areas that she knew would have more vamp activity. As much as she wanted to stay in someplace nice, or at least nicer than someplace with dirty sheets and bugs, she also knew she was more likely to find activity in places where people normally turned their heads the other way.

She found a motel that at least looked like management made an effort to keep everything clean and checked in for the night. The person at the front desk didn't seem to care if she wanted to stay more than just the night and Faith couldn't help but smile at the difference between the hotel she stayed at the previous night and the one she was at now.

The anonymity was something Faith definitely liked though. It meant if she caused some trouble no one would remember her.

The room she got was the furthest away from the motel office and Faith thought that probably meant they didn't want to hear from her, which was fine. She hoped that meant she'd be left alone, too. She parked in front of her room and unloaded quickly, checking the locks as she closed the door.

Faith looked around the room and sighed at the noticeable downgrade from where she stayed the previous night. The bed was made but only half-heartedly though the sheets looked clean. The bathroom was tiny and the hot water only worked in bursts. There was both a microwave and a TV but the microwave was broken and the TV only got five channels.

None of that mattered at the moment as she grabbed a stake and a knife, hiding them in her jacket as she walked out of the room and out to the street. The neighborhood reminded her a lot of the area vamps used to hang out in Sunnydale and even LA so she figured if she walked around she could easily come across one.

A few blocks from the motel she came across a bar that served food and she remembered that she needed to eat something. It wasn't like it had been in the past where she didn't have money for three meals a day.

She quickly scanned the bar when she entered and couldn't see any immediate threat. It wasn't yet dark enough for vamps to really be out in force so she didn't sense any. Instead, she took a seat at the bar and ordered a burger and a beer.

After about five minutes she heard something she wasn't sure she liked. "Never expected to see you here."

Faith turned her head as Kennedy sat on the stool next to her. "Didn't expect to be seen."

It looked as though Kennedy expected Faith to say something more than that but Faith didn't think there was anything else to say. She didn't know the other girl well at all and hadn't expected to run into anyone. Buffy had said she wasn't sure there was a slayer in Memphis and even if there was, Faith didn't expect to run into one on the first night.

"Are you on assignment?"

"I'm not working for anyone," Faith said simply, taking a sip of beer.

The only thing Faith really wanted was to eat a meal and maybe talk up the bartender, who only brought her food and walked away now that she wasn't sitting by herself. In her experience the bartenders in bars that were in the worst neighborhoods knew more about what went down than any cop would. It's how she managed to scam her way through childhood and across the country when she needed.

She didn't want to have a conversation with a slayer she didn't know or work with her. For a second she thought maybe Buffy had told her to go to Memphis in order to check up on Kennedy but knew that wasn't what happened. The other slayer would probably have pushed a little harder on the issue and Faith never told her that she would end up in the city.

"This place will change in about an hour or so," Kennedy said quietly, leaning in as if she didn't want anyone else to hear. It felt as though she was trying to be covert about being there but Faith didn't think she was very good at it.

Faith took a bite before finally turning her head to look at the other girl, not sure if she wanted to know what she meant. "What do you mean?"

"All these people in here," Kennedy motioned to the dozen or so people scattered around, "will be gone soon or they're at risk. Or they want to be here which I still can't wrap my head around." She paused. "You ran into that once in LA, right?"

"Not the same," Faith stated simply.

Kennedy was referring to when she was in LA and had found vamps who would feed off drug addicts. What Faith found insane when she saw it was that the humans wanted to be there, the high from using apparently being much better while being bitten. She didn't see any signs that this bar had anything like that happening though.

Faith looked from her food and eyed the bartender. The man definitely wasn't a vampire and nothing about him screamed demon. Either he was someone like Willy was back in Sunnydale, making a buck however he could, or he had no choice in the matter. "You've been here before."

"Saw a teaser of it last night. I got a couple of vamps out of it but didn't walk in 'cause I didn't know what to expect. Other than that, all I heard was rumors."

"What did you get from the rumors?"

"Been happening for a couple weeks," Kennedy said. "Kinda like a group of vamps just took over."

From her first look around the bar and what she had noticed since she had been sitting at the bar, she knew there was a back room. That would be the only place any vampires would be at the moment since she was sure none were where she could see. She quickly finished her beer and motioned to the bartender for another, wanting a conversation and hoped Kennedy wouldn't screw it up.

When he sent the bottle in front of her, Faith quickly spoke up. "Hey, got a question for you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"You the owner?" When he nodded, Faith smiled. "What happens in the backroom?"

The question seemed to catch him off guard but he kept his face from showing any obvious surprise. "What do you mean? That's the storeroom and office."

Faith shrugged. "Saw a couple of your regulars slip back there. I figure you got something going back there. What is it? High stakes gambling? Drugs? What?"

The bartender looked a little startled at the questions and Faith almost smiled at the fact he hadn't called her bluff. She hadn't seen anyone walk through the back door. "I can't even begin to know how to answer a question like that. It's crazy."

"What about the vamps?" Kennedy asked quickly and much too loud for Faith's liking. She had tried to keep it quiet, knowing the bartender might be more inclined to be honest if he knew for certain only she could hear. "We know they come here."

The man's eyes got wide and Faith noticed the actions of a couple people close to them had stilled, as if they were trying to hear the response. She wanted nothing more than punch Kennedy for blowing it.

"You need to leave," he said as he leaned in, looking Faith in the eye. "Now."

Faith had hoped he was someone like Willy, a human who worked with vamps and demons to make some money, but she knew now that wasn't the situation. Though he was masking it well with some fake toughness, it was easy for her to see the fear he had. It made her wonder how long he'd be kept around since he wasn't willing.

Before she could say anything, a group started walking out of the backroom. Her slayer senses went off but she stopped herself from instantly grabbing her stake. Faith wanted to be fully aware of the situation first and moved off the stool, noticing the two people near her had already made a quick exit. From the looks on some other nervous faces other people in the bar wished they could do the same.

"I knew tonight was going to be special," the leader said, a prominent smirk on his face. He was well over six feet tall, built like some who had lifted weights consistently throughout his life and dressed in dark jeans and a leather jacket. Faith looked over the rest of the group, eight total, and noticed the allegiance right away. "When Clint buzzed I wasn't sure it'd be worth our time but I was wrong."

Kennedy stood next to Faith, her hand noticeably hovering over where her stake was. "Buzzed?"

"We've been hanging out in back but whenever someone's outside we might have an interest in Clint hits a buzzer and we come out to collect," he said, grinning. "Just a little agreement that stops us from draining him dry."

The sentence ended in a scowl and when Faith turned her head she could see Clint was genuinely scared. She looked at Kennedy and hoped she would follow her lead as she took a step forward. "I don't think we've been introduced. Name's Faith . . . a vampire slayer."

"And I'm Kennedy, also a vampire slayer."

Two of the vampires toward the back looked a little nervous now that they knew what they were facing but it didn't seem to faze the leader any. "There are so many of you now. Have to think all that power has been diluted, even cheapened in a way."

"Lucky for you then 'cause I'm an original slayer," Faith said, staring him down while staying aware of any other movement in the bar. "No diluted power running through these veins."

"Can't wait to test it."

Faith figured he was smart enough not to rush at her right away and she was right. He made a couple quick signals with his hand and suddenly the seven vamps he led were rushing across the room with amazing speed. Any other humans in the place were suddenly moving as fast as they could toward any exit they could find, not wanting any part of the fight about to happen.

Giving Kennedy a quick nod, Faith grabbed the stake she had hidden in her jacket and moved to a better position, trying to ready herself for the onslaught of vamps. Kennedy did the same and took a few steps away from Faith so they each had some room to work with. Faith didn't want to have to think about anything else outside of staking the vamps in front of her and that included having to think about where Kennedy was.

The first vampire to reach Faith almost was able to get a hit in but she managed to block his fist before it connected with her face. She used the block to her advantage and pushed him away as another was on her only a second later. He was luckier than the first and kicked her in the stomach but she was able to mostly avoid it too so she was able to recover quickly.

Faith realized quickly that the vamps she was up against had at least some training but then something else entered her mind. Seven vampires had rushed at them but she was only fighting two. She dared to turn her head and noticed Kennedy was struggling to fight off five of them.

She cursed herself as she continued to fight off the pair, realizing that it was her fault more of the vamps went after the younger slayer. The fact that she had admitted she was an original slayer probably made the group think that it would be easier to take out Kennedy and then go after her. It wasn't a method she could remember seeing but it was the only explanation that made sense.

"Faith, looks like I'm getting all the love here," Kennedy muttered as she staked one of the vamps.

"Be there in a second," Faith remarked.

The leader of the group continued to watch as if he was trying to gage whether or not the group he had surrounded himself with was a good fighter. He also didn't seem to care if anyone of them were dusted since Faith didn't notice any reaction on his face as she staked one of the vamps fighting her.

What was even stranger was the fact the vamps didn't talk at all while they were fighting. Faith was so used to having vampires attempt to taunt her while they fought, mostly for the same reasons she did. If she could catch a vamp off guard with a little naming-calling, she'd do it in a second and she knew that went both ways. These vamps were silent.

For that reason the only sounds in the bar were hits being blocked or landed or of Faith and Kennedy breathing. The vamps were silent and it seemed like all the humans in the bar had managed to get out of the establishment. She had no idea where the bartender had gone.

It left like forever before Faith staked the other vamp that had originally gone after her, though it was probably only a couple minutes. Kennedy hadn't managed to stake any of the other four vamps attacking her but Faith was impressed that none of them had gotten the better of her yet. Then again, the other slayer had broken a couple of stools over a couple of them in the process, causing them to be less active in the fight.

Kennedy seemed to know that Faith was coming toward her because she spun and kicked one of the vamps directly into Faith. She grabbed him and he was dust probably before he even realized she was near him. The action allowed Kennedy to stake another one so she was only left with two and Faith figured she could take care of those herself.

Faith turned and ran to the leader, who's face actually showed some shock that three of his group were dust in such a short amount of time. She rushed him, stake in hand, and figured since he actually showed some leadership skills he would meet her halfway.

That wasn't the case. Instead, he turned and ran to the backroom, definitely not showing he was ready to take on a slayer. Faith chased after him, knowing instinctively the vamp would try to escape through the backdoor that led out to the alley.

Once she entered the backroom she ducked immediately as a keg flew towards her head, missing it by only a couple inches. Faith saw him laugh before he disappeared out the back, causing more distance from her. She cursed under her breath and ran after him, not wanting him to get away. A vampire that had the ability to get others to follow him wasn't one she wanted around.

When she got out to the alley she could see him making his way toward the street and knew that if he made it out to the street it would be much harder to find him. She looked around quickly before finding a crate and hurling it toward the vamp. It hit him square in the back, causing him to stumble and giving Faith the time she needed to catch up to him.

She pulled him to his feet and pulled him back into the darkness of the alley. Faith could see a few people walking around and even though she had a feeling no one would report any fight they saw, she wasn't about to take the chance. Instead, she pulled him up against the building glared at him.

"I didn't realize you'd be such a coward," Faith snarled at him.

He smirked. "I've had to replace people before. That's how things work around here."

"Maybe when it did when there was one slayer but that's not the case anymore." Faith kept him against the wall with one hand while she gripped her stake. "There's so many of us you'll lose every time."

As a response, he tried to pull her closer and head butt her in an effort to get away. Faith used the move to push him hard against the wall before thrusting her stake deep into his chest. She moved away as he exploded into a cloud of dust.

"Fucking hell, Faith," Kennedy said as she walked out the bar and toward her. "Why the hell did they go after me?"

"They thought you were weaker," Faith said calmly as she walked past her and back into the bar.

The bar was a disaster. They'd broken most of the stools and it looked like every glass had been broken during Kennedy's fight. Faith saw some movement behind the bar and she walked around it to see the bartender cowering behind it.

"Get up," Faith said strongly. "They're all dusted."

"Thank you," the bartender said quietly, his eyes looking over the bar.

"This happen a lot?"

"I heard rumors it happened to other bars but wasn't sure I believed them," he said. "They showed up two weeks ago when I was getting ready to close up and said they were taking over." He scowled. "They killed my other bartender. I didn't know what to do." He sighed. "I didn't want to die."

Faith nodded. She wanted to be angry at the fact that he let vampires feed on his customers for two weeks but she understood his need for self-preservation. "Anyone else here?"

He shook his head. "I fired my staff the morning after they showed up."

Kennedy walked in from the back and Faith could tell she was wired. She had to admit that she was, too. "That was a rush."

Faith looked from her back to the bartender. "Guess you can hire your staff back now."

"Thank you."

Faith just nodded and started to walk out of the bar, knowing that Kennedy was close behind. She hoped she didn't expect for them to team up for the rest of the night, or any night really. Even though she was happy to have the help with eight vampires, especially since this was the first night she'd been slaying since Sunnydale, she didn't want the company.

"So where to next?"

"I'm gonna see if there's any other vamps roaming around," Faith said, "and then I'm getting some sleep."

"Want company?"

"No."

"Look, Faith . . ."

"Listen," Faith started, "if I wanted to be around people I would've stayed in Cleveland. If you want someone to help you, there's plenty of slayers there."

"Not gonna happen," Kennedy huffed.

"Then thanks but no thanks, kid," Faith said and walked back toward the motel. She thought she heard Kennedy say something else but she wasn't following her so she knew the younger slayer had gotten the message.

She walked around until the early hours, managing to take out another three vamps before returning to the motel. When she walked in and sat down, Faith had a smile on her face. She'd helped people and it felt good.

Now she just needed to keep doing it.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks to everyone reading/reviewing and for anyone sticking with this one. :)**

Chapter Four

* * *

Six days in Memphis was more than enough for Faith.

There were plenty of vampires and demons in the city and it was definitely getting her back into slaying shape. During the night there seemed to be absolutely zero downtime and it made each night feel like it passed in a manner of minutes and not hours. She had to agree with Buffy that vampires seemed to flock to the city.

What was different about Memphis was that vamps seemed to travel in groups. She had run across that before but during the nights in the city that was almost all she dealt with were vampire gangs. It was strange but at least it had given her a good workout, especially since it wasn't like she trained during the day.

She had taken at least one gang each night while she was there not including the group she'd staked with Kennedy the first night. All of them roamed around the poorer areas of Memphis, sticking to terrorizing the people who couldn't afford to live in the nicer parts or have better protection. They also seemed to know where the police were and stayed away, not drawing any unneeded attention to themselves.

Faith wasn't used to smart vampires but she was getting there. Most of them were smug about the fact they were able to outsmart officials and most people but Faith used their smugness to her advantage. It made them easier to kill.

The demons in the city were also organized but they weren't as smart as the vampires and Faith had a better time in getting them to flee certain areas of the city. She also encountered some that weren't half bad. A vengeance demon even gave her a few tips in getting rid of a particular nasty group of vamps that kidnapped and kept humans until they got bored of them.

Of course, the demon kept trying to get her to wish for something. That kept her on her toes the entire night since she didn't want to have to deal with the consequences of a wish as well as getting rid of a vamp problem.

"Good morning, Faith," the woman in the motel office said as Faith walked in. "Late night again?"

Faith smiled more out of politeness than anything else. Word spread quickly that she was trying to get rid of the vamps in the area and now she had fans. It made her slightly uncomfortable. "Always."

"What can we do for you today?"

"Uh, was just checking out," Faith said, sliding her key across the counter.

It was easy to see the sadness on the woman's face. "Going to a different area of the city?"

She shook her head. "Gotta move on."

"Oh."

"Hey, there's a lot of chicks like me," Faith said, trying to make her exit a little less awkward. "They pass through here all the time. There was even one here when I first showed up."

"I guess what you did is better than nothing."

Faith smiled again. "I'm sure I'll be around again at some point."

"Okay," she said, looking a little defeated but smiling anyway. "Take care, honey."

All Faith did was nod and walk out of the office. All her gear was already in the Explorer so she jumped in and turned the key, the engine roaring to life a moment later. She had to make one stop before she could begin her drive to the next city.

That was something she hadn't decided on yet, the next place she would stay for a bit. All she knew was that she needed someplace knew. She thought she might like going a little further south. Maybe she would be able to get some sun if she got to a place that had a beach. She'd been looking over the maps earlier that morning and figured someplace in Florida or even somewhere along the Gulf Coast might be nice.

She didn't drive very far before stopping though. Faith found a parking spot along the street and pulled in, looking toward the bar down the block.

After helping him out the first night, Faith had gone back to the bar the next day to check in on the bartender/owner, Clint. The place was a mess and Faith offered to help him clean up enough to get the place back open. He even paid her for helping and that definitely helped with cash for the next city. She didn't want to have to rely on what Buffy had given her unless it was absolutely necessary.

The bar was quiet when she walked in but saw Clint walk in from the back room a moment later. "Hey, Clint."

"Faith, good morning," he said, a smile on his face. "I think the place is finally back to how it was before . . . you know, everything."

"Looks good." Faith paused and ran her fingers through her hair. "Just stopped by to tell you I'm leaving town. Got some other places to go."

He nodded, his face blank. "Well, thanks for the help. Will I see ya around at some point?"

"Maybe."

She turned to go but Clint walked toward and put a hand on her arm. "Wait a second," he said quickly and put a few crumbled twenties in her hand. "I know I paid you yesterday but you made my bar feel like a safe place for people again. I figure that's worth a little extra."

Faith thought about declining but didn't want to insult him since he seemed intent on giving her the money. She could see that just by looking into his eyes. "Thanks, man. I can make a call, have other slayers check in if they pass through."

"I'd appreciate it," Clint said. "You take care."

She handed him a slip of paper. "Here's my number in case you need it."

"Thanks, Faith."

She only nodded before walking out of the bar and back to her car. It was hard to believe that she'd made such an impression on anyone in just the five days she'd been in Memphis but she had. Maybe that was what happened when someone did something good for others.

Faith wouldn't know about that but it felt good to have someone thank her for helping out or for doing her job. Part of her wanted to stay in Memphis just to keep getting praise like some of what she had over the last five days but deep down she knew this wasn't the place for her. She wanted to keep moving and hoped she'd find someplace where settling down was an option.

Once she got in the Explorer, she looked over her map quickly to check which highways she needed to take to get out of Memphis and toward the more southern areas of the country. After that she put on her sunglasses and pulled out onto the street, looking over the places she'd been in over the last few days. She hoped the vamps stayed away at least for a little while.

The radio stations seemed to play nothing but country so she put in one of her CDs instead, trying to relax and concentrate on where she would stop for the night. She decided against going to Mississippi right away, thinking that maybe Alabama and Florida might be better destinations. Once she took the exit to Highway 78, she smiled, already feeling she was making the correct decision.

Then her phone started to ring.

"Yeah?"

"Good, you're okay." Buffy's voice seemed relieved and that only confused Faith.

"Why wouldn't I be?" There was a pause but Buffy didn't say anything when Faith thought she would. "B, why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Well . . ." Buffy didn't seem to know what say. "I guess since I didn't hear from you for a few days I thought something might be wrong."

Faith's first reaction was to get defensive and make a comment on how she couldn't be trusted to be on her own and had to report in but she stopped herself. She decided to take Buffy's concern in a positive way instead. If they were going to put aside their past struggles she knew part of that would be not jumping to conclusions.

"Nah, nothing's wrong," Faith answered. "Just been a busy few days."

"Oh, okay." She paused again. "What have you been up to?"

"Took your advice and was in Memphis. You were right. There were vamp gangs all over." Faith thought for a moment. "Did you know Kennedy was there?"

Buffy seemed to take a breath before answering. "I didn't. Did the two of you team up?"

"Only for a night," Faith said. "I didn't exactly want company."

"Yeah, I guess that would defeat the purpose of going out on your own." There was another pause. "Did you get a chance to do anything else besides slaying?"

"Not really. Memphis is too packed with vamps. I'll try to do something in the next city."

"You're not staying?" Buffy's voice sounded confused, like she thought she wouldn't have left the city so soon.

"I never wanted to stay in one place, B," Faith said easily. "I don't wanna settle down in a city or anything. Feels kinda suffocating right now." She decided to change the subject instead of only answering Buffy's questions. "How's things there?"

"Hectic," Buffy answered. "Whoever thought having a bunch of teenage girls living together in one building was not a smart person."

"Blaming Giles for that one?"

"Oh, definitely."

They laughed quietly and Faith realized it felt good to talk to the other slayer now that any of the initial awkwardness was gone. There wasn't any pressure since Buffy had agreed to give Faith space and she in turn had kept herself open to having these conversations. It seemed like it was a good start to them mending or even creating a friendship between them.

"I'm heading south."

"Trying to get some time at a beach?" Buffy asked.

"If there's time," Faith admitted. "Anything I should be aware of?"

"Let me check." There was some shuffling of papers in the background. "I take by the encounter with Kennedy that you don't want to have another slayer in the area?"

Faith thought about it for a moment. "Doesn't matter, I guess. If the city's big enough I might not even run into whoever you have stationed there."

"The only slayer who's actually in a city in your direction is in Miami and she doesn't stay there all the time. She's the one that normally visits Memphis . . . but I didn't know Kennedy was there so who know what's going on. Giles keeps track of that better than I do."

She chuckled quietly before thinking of something. "You gonna tell Red I ran into Kennedy?"

"Probably not," Buffy admitted. "Maybe it's better for her not to know."

Faith nodded before realizing the other girl couldn't see her. "I get that. Were you able to ever have a vacation in the last couple years?"

"Who has time for that?" Buffy said, laughing. "Take a picture of the beach for me, okay?"

"Will do," Faith said and remembered why Buffy had called to begin with: because she hadn't called to check in earlier. "I'll try to remember to keep ya in the loop, B. Don't want ya worrying about me or anything."

There was a silence and Faith wasn't sure Buffy was still on the line. She was about to say something else when she finally spoke up. "I hope we can work together eventually."

Faith smiled. "I do, too." She paused. "Maybe you can even meet up with me."

"Maybe."

It felt like Buffy might even be smiling and that made Faith smile. "Talk to you later, B."

"Bye, Faith."

* * *

Since she had grown up in the poorer areas of Boston prior to being called and that upbringing didn't include any family vacations, Faith had never been to the southeastern area of the country. That being the case she looked around at her surroundings a little more and made a couple extra stops to check if the place she stopped had any signs of having a vamp problem.

A lot of the towns were small but while some people gave her the all too familiar "you're an outsider" look, many people were nice, if not a little overly curious. Faith had even struck up a longer-than-she-should-have conversation with a waitress in one small town in Mississippi. The woman was nice and Faith had a thought that maybe she could even stay for a couple days but nothing she heard sounded like there was a vamp or demon presence so she knew she should move on.

Soon Mississippi turned into Alabama and Faith felt good about the direction she chose. Traveling south, toward the ocean, was hopefully a good opportunity to both stake some vampires and to think more about what she wanted to do. She definitely wanted to continue to travel but she also wanted to make sure she was observant everywhere she went and make a note if it was somewhere she'd want to settle down in.

In the back of her mind, there was the thought that she could always go back to Cleveland and work with everyone. She knew she would be accepted there, more or less, and it seemed like there was plenty of work to do with the younger, newer slayers. The only problem was that if she went back now it would feel like she failed in some way. It would feel like she was settling.

With the extra stops she'd made during the day by the time she hit the city limits of Mobile, Alabama the daylight was already threatening to fade. Faith hoped that she would be able to get a decent hotel but it happened to be the weekend and the weather was nice so the first two she tried were completely booked.

She finally found a room at a rundown motel not far from the ocean. Faith figured the place had rooms because it wasn't in the best condition and didn't exactly look family friendly but the room was clean and everything worked. Sure, her only view was of the parking lot but that didn't bother her in the way it would others.

After checking in and unloading the Explorer, Faith walked back to the front desk, smiling politely at the middle-aged woman behind it.

"Is there any night life in the area?"

The woman smiled. "There's some lovely restaurants once you drive toward downtown," she said in a sweet southern accent then paused. "That the kind of thing you're looking for, honey?"

"I'm more of a bar and club kind of girl," Faith said easily. "Kind of wanna get to know the area, you know?"

"I see." She took out a map, the kind that would normally be given to tourists, and circled an area with a finger. "Try this area of the city. There's some great food and the drinks are cheap but . . . well, I usually tell people not to stay there too late at night. It's the easiest place to find trouble."

Faith smiled. "Oh, I can handle trouble."

"I bet you can," she replied, chuckling lightly. "Better be up tomorrow bright and early though. I'll bring in some homemade muffins." Faith raised an eyebrow at that which only made her laugh more. "Sugar, this place may not look like much but I try to make it nice and keep the riff-raff out."

"I'm sure you do."

Faith walked out without saying anything else, walking to get out and see the city. Her whole body was buzzing and she wasn't sure if that was because there were vampires in the area or if she was simply eager to patrol.

Either way, she was about to find out.

* * *

Seafood seemed to be everywhere, with being so close to the ocean and all, and it was cheap so Faith decided to try what seemed to be so popular. She ended up trying some crab that she had to admit wasn't bad but it wasn't much of a life-changer either. Tomorrow she would probably try to track down a burger. It was more her style.

After eating she walked around, taking in the night life. It was entertaining to simply watch people as they walked past her, going about their lives. Most people weren't paying attention to much around them and Faith noticed it was easy to see which were tourists and which were locals. The tourists stopped and looked around much more.

Faith also took notice of which groups of people were doing the watching, much like she was. Some of them were innocent, pointing out a clueless tourist here and there and simply taking in the sights around them, but others were not. There was at least one group of young men, probably not a single one over twenty, that were looking for marks, people to steal from. She even noticed a pair of women walking out of a store with items they had obviously stolen.

It was amazing what she could pick out by simply observing people but as it became later at night and the tourists started to retreat back to their hotels, she started to feel that all too familiar feeling. Faith knew that there were vamps in the area because of it. The odds that it was another slayer would be practically nonexistent given what Buffy had told her.

She started to notice why the woman at the motel warned about the area. There were dark corners and alleys everywhere, perfect places for dangerous elements to pull their unsuspecting victims into. Faith smiled grimly when she saw a couple women, both possibly in their early twenties, with a group of three men that looked to be ready to test out her dark corner theory. Especially since it was easy for her to tell the men were vampires.

When the group ducked into a nearby alley Faith quickly crossed the street and made her way toward it without causing any suspicion from anyone nearby. If there was one thing she didn't need it was an audience.

Faith could see the girls giggling as she neared the entrance and she suspected they were either drunk or high. In her mind, that would make it easier for the vamps to get them into a suggestive state if they were. She hoped that was the case anyway. Otherwise, they were just stupid.

It wasn't the time to think about that though and Faith shook the thoughts away as she entered the alley. The group had moved into the darkest part and she could see the vamps had their unknowing victims cornered. Their stances were predatory and though it was dark, she thought the one closest to one of the women had his vamp face on.

She decided a distraction was needed. Faith kicked a rock against a dumpster that was no more than ten feet from her. The sound echoed loudly, causing the group to turn in her direction.

Faith took a few casual footsteps toward them. "What's going on, boys?"

"Beat it, bitch," the one closest to her said, his face changing and his teeth showing. "This is a private party."

She took a couple more steps. "I don't know about you but this is a pretty shitty place for a party."

One of the vamps had an arm around one of the girls' waist, keeping her close and slightly in front of him. "It's not really a party and more of dinner."

His face changed immediately and he sunk his fangs into the girl's neck, causing her to cry out loudly. The other girl tried to run but one of the other vampires held onto her, keeping her trapped. The third one went for Faith and moved to punch her but she ducked out of the way, pulling her stake out of her jacket when she did.

It was obvious all they didn't think much of her but the one who came after her never got the chance to change his opinion. By the time he turned to try and take another swing at her Faith had her stake ready and it was in his chest before he knew what hit him. It all happened in a matter of seconds.

"Shit," one of the vamps muttered as he dropped the bitten girl to the ground. "Slayer."

The two remaining vamps ran toward her, both reaching for her but neither were armed. Faith noticed that right away and her confidence grew that she wasn't in for much of a fight.

The first one to reach her missed when he tried to punch her and she pushed him away, catching him off balance and causing him to fall. Faith turned her attention to the other one, delivering a kicking to his stomach that sent him flying to the opposite wall of the alley. She closed the new distance in a second, staking him before he had a chance to realize it.

"You bitch!" the last vamp said as he spit at her. "Do you know how hard it is to find someone decent to hang with in this city?"

"Decent?" Faith laughed. "Don't think that word really describes a vampire."

"Whatever." He shrugged and moved toward her, trying to get the upper hand.

Faith took a quick glance at the girls, noticing the one that hadn't been bitten was helping the other, before looking back at the vamp. She made a step toward him, moving just enough to get him to throw the first punch. He was easy to read and Faith anticipated what he'd do enough to catch his fist with her left hand and punch him hard in the nose with the hand that held her stake. His nose was broken, blood instantly covering his face, and that was all the distraction she needed to thrust a stake into his heart.

"Too easy," she muttered and wiped any vamp dust off her before pocketing her stake. She looked over at the two girls who were still hovering against the wall, the one to was bitten looked to be barely conscious.

"Please . . . don't hurt us," one of them said as she attempted to protect the other and attempted to get them on their feet.

"Ain't gonna hurt you," Faith said and offered her a hand. "Didn't I just take out a group that was literally going to eat you?"

The girl nervously took her hand and they both helped the other girl to her feet. "What were they?"

"Doesn't matter," Faith said. "Just get out of here and get her checked out by a doctor, okay?"

She nodded and walked out of the alley as fast as she could, the other girl leaning on her for support. Faith watched them go before exiting the alley herself. She knew she could help them to a hospital but figured they make it without her and there were more vamps in the area.

She could feel it and was more than ready to find them.


End file.
